Abstract

The introduction to this volume of collected essays looks at climate governance at the global level and its various state and non-state policy initiatives. It begins by outlining recent historical developments, most notably within the UNFCCC. It continues with a brief survey of the institutions associated with the UNFCCC, including the Kyoto Protocol and related, or associated, mechanisms including the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the emergent programme to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). Debates exist surrounding the policy responses of the climate change regime, most notably whether countries should be adapting to, or mitigating climate change, and there are often starkly contrasting voices in the developed and developing countries regarding policy development. Furthermore, existing forums only partially represent the many and varied issues and interests associated with climate policy development. The chapter continues by providing an explanation as to how the various global regimes, which relate to climate change management, should be understood in a governance context. The institutional quality of climate management is affected by the governance arrangements underlying policy development, particularly the structures and processes associated with interest representation, accountability and transparency, decision-making and implementation. The final section links these discussions to the contents of the following chapters, which cover a wide range of global climate-relevant regimes from fields as diverse as health, migration, water management, national security and finance, as well the climate change regime itself and its institutions, instruments and policies. The introduction ends by commenting on the conclusions of the final chapter. There, the authors call upon global climate-related regimes – public or private, intergovernmental or market-driven – to develop consistent quality-of-governance standards to meet the needs of present and future generations and tackle climate change effectively.